Combination article of furniture



July 15, 1958 W. H. WHEELER COMBINATION ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed Oct.15, 1953 INVENTOR WILLIAM H. WHEELER 6/ 9 ATTORNEY 7 4 2 a I! l 2 3 8 wa! I a W 9 m m 3 /l l I M H i \{\m x u wwwwwgaw 2 HT 0%, 4 l

COMBINATION ARTICLE OF William Henry Wheeler-{New York, N. Y., assigndrto Edna 'K. Wheeler, New York, N. Y.

Application ctober15,*1953, Serial No.i386,206

3 Claims. (Cl."5+-159) This invention relates to "a'conibination'article of furniture embodying a fold-away bed unit.More-particularly, the invention relatesto a combinationarticle offurniture of the class described having anelongat'ed shelf or mantelportion and a movable front section forming storage'compartrnents whenin the'vertical position, and

' providing abed'unitwhen in the'horizontalposition.

In the furnishing of modern homes, and particularly rooms 'whichare tofunction as dual .purposerootns, for example as living orrecreationalrooms in the daytime an'dproviding sleeping facilities at night, varioustypes of convertible'units have beenavail'able' such aschairs,-sofas,

and the like which convert into bedsto provide sleeping facilities. Ingeneral, however; convertible furniture of the type heretoforeavailablehasbeenrather awkward-in use, both because of the need for rearrangingat least part Patented July 15, 1958 with part of the structure'brokenaway and indicating the parts thereof oriented for night-time use as abed; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of part of the unit as viewed 'in thedirection of the arrows 4 4 inFig. 3.

As shown in the drawing, my combinationfurniture unit comprises acabinet10 having atop wall ormantel surface 11, end walls 12, a bottom wall'13, a rear wall'l4,

and a front wall portion '15 at the lower portion only of the'unit. Thewall parts 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are so fashioned and secured togetheras to provide a rigid boxlike-unitwhich can be lifted and moved about inmuch the same manner as abookcase, chest of drawers or the like.Arranged within the cabinet unit 10 and'pivotally secured to the frontwall portion15 by-suita'ble hinges '16 is a movable storage unit 17,comprising aperipheral frame 18 and partitioning means 19 centrally ofsaid frame dividing the unit 17 into outer storage compartments 20 and'an inner compartment 21 adapted to receive aconventional mattress 22.The mattress '22 preferably pr otrudes beyond the frame 18 (above theframe 18 as shown in'Fig. 3) so as to minimize contact with the frame18by one reclining on the mattress.

The storage compartments 20 can be fashioned to "store and supportarticles of different types and kinds and 'rner'ely forpurp'ose ofillustration I have shown the compartments -29 as adapted for thestorage of bedding,

"pillows, and the like as indicated at 23. 'For this purpose thecompartmentsfiil are separated bymeansof a shelf24'andtransversesupports 25 may be employed to aid in of the room inmakingthe conversion and because the be'd'must generally bemade up eachtime thefurniture'is converted for sleepingpurposes.

There have of course in apartments and other confinedquartersbeen-various types of disappearing beds of-what might bereferred to as a built innature' wherein a closet or alcove is providedin a room for storage of abed during the daytime. This type ofinstallationfhas' the disadvantage of being in a fixed-or definitelocation and requiring that the .remainder of the room be plannedand-arranged to conform with the space required by the disappearing.

bed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved type offurnitureembodying in combination a-wall cabinet including a relativelylow shelf or mantel surfaceand a disappearing bedpivotally mounted insaid cabinet. Another object of the invention is to provide acombination article of furniture of the class described in the form of aunit or assemblage which can readily be moved from place to place withina room, or from one room to another, and which lends itself to thecreating of attractive room arrangements.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination article offurniture which can be quickly and easily converted to a bed and inwhich the bed in the stored position can be completely made up and readyfor use, and which may include supplementary storage compartments.

These and other objects of the invention will be more readily apparentfrom a consideration of the following description, together with theaccompanying drawing illustrating one adaptation of my invention inwhich the various parts are identified by suitable reference charactersin each of the views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view from the front of the combination article offurniture showing the same in the normal daytime position, with onestorage compartment thereof being open for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the unit as shown in Fig. l

the arrangement of articles in the compartments 20.

"The outer-side-ofthe frame'IS, as seen in Figs. 1 arid'2, is providedwith peripheral front wall parts 26 and a'plurality ot posts or wall"parts 27 providing at the frontof thennit a plurality of openings'28adapted' to' be closed 'by swinging'doors 29 in providing a neatlypaneled-front tothe cabinet un'it. The lower front Wall par t 26 issecured to a stiffenin'g memb'erl8'as-seen in Fig. Z' Which eiiten'dsthroughout fh6 lel-lgih-ofthe frame 18.

The doors 29arc provided with suitable 113116165 30,

which are preferably of the combination handle -andlatch type, toretain' the doors in the closed position, particularly when "the unit-17is lowered as seen inFig. 3; The

handle 30 on a-central door 29 is preferably zn'ranged 'at the top ofthe door as shown in Fig. -l to'facilita te initial tilting inovement orthe unit 17.

' While the' foregoing description has' referred to compartrnents ztland swinging doors 2% toricontroliling access ,advantageous in providingmore comfortable sleeping facilities if the unit is to be used regularlyas a bed.

A significant feature of my device, which provides means for properlysupporting the tiltable unit 17 in both the vertical and horizontalpositions thereof, is the combination leg and stop member 31 which ispivotally secured to the outer edge of the frame 18 by suitable hinges32. The leg or stop member 31 is of L-shaped contour in cross section,as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, and extends throughout the length of the frame18 as seen in Fig. l. The leg and stop member 31 swings from a positionas shown in Fig. 3 wherein the short rail 33 is in bearing engagementwith the frame part 26 and the long rail 34 protrudes outwardly from theframe 18 to form a leg, to the position as shown in Fig. 2 in which thelong rail 34 is in bearing engagement with the frame 18 and the narrowrail 33 protrudes upwardly from the frame 18 for bearing engagement witha stop member 35 secured to the underside of the shelf or mantel 11. Theengagement between the swinging leg and stop member 31 and the fixedstop 35 provides positive orientation of the swinging unit 17 when inthe vertical tilted position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be apparent that the width of the wide rail 34 of the leg member31 and the width of the front frame part 15 are so proportioned as toprovide level support of the bed unit when in the horizontal positionshown in Fig. 3. If desired the rail 34 may be provided with cutoutportions 36 as seen in Fig. 4 of the drawing forming spaced legs 34' forcontact with the floor. The cut-out portions 36 form space for the footto extend under the unit, thus facilitating the making up of the bed.Legs 34 can be positioned at the ends of the rail 34 or at the ends andcenter as indicated in the drawing.

The outer side of the frame 18 preferably includes an elongated cut-outportion 37 centrally thereof forming a hand grip 38 for grasping theunit 17 in raising it from the horizontal position to the verticalposition. In this connection it will be noted that the elevation of thehinge 16 and the extension of the unit 17 inwardly of the cabinet 10,beyond the hinge 16 provides a partial counterbalancing of the unit 17so that relatively little effort is required in tilting the unit 17 fromone position to the other.

The hinges 16 and 32 have for purposes of illustration been shown as theelongated piano hinge type. It is to be understood, however, thatvarious types of hinges can be employed, and suitable hinges of theconcealed type which are invisible from the front of the unit. The doors29 can also be mounted by various types of hinges including those of theinvisible type.

- of the unit permit wide variation in the external design and stylingwhich can be employed in adapting the unit to different interiordecorating schemes.

Various changes and modifications in the combination furniture deviceherein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the art and to theextent that such changes and modifications are embraced by the appendedclaims it is to be understood that they constitute part of my invention.

I claim:

1. A convertible bed and cabinet device comprising a cabinet part havinga bottom member, end and rear walls, a narrow front wall portiontransversing said cabinet part adjacent said bottom member, and anelongated and relatively low top shelf portion, the front of saidcabinet comprising a panel section extending between and flush with saidend walls and pivoted along one lower edge thereof to said narrow frontwall portion for swinging movement from a vertical position to ahorizontal position, movable means providing a vertical support for thefree edge of said panel section when the same is in a horizontalposition, a frame secured to said panel section forming a mattresscompartment spaced inwardly from said panel section, said frameextending beyond the pivoted edge of said panel section when said panelsection is in horizontal position and substantially to said bottommember when said panel section is in vertical position, and saidmattress compartment being open at the side thereof opposed to saidpanel section exposing a mattress as a sleeping surface when in thehorizontal position.

2. A convertible bed and cabinet device as defined in claim 1, whereinthe movable means providing vertical support for the free edge of saidpanel section is an elongated member of L-shaped cross-sectional formextending the full length of said panel section, and pivotally securedthereto for swinging movement through an arc of one longer portion ofsaid L-shaped member comprising leg means, and the other shorterposition of said L-shaped member acting in one pivoted position thereofas a leg bracing means, and in the other position thereof as a closureand aligning means between the upper edge of said panel section and saidtop shelf portion.

3. A convertible bed and cabinet device as defined in claim 1, whereinthe frame on said panel section includes partitioning means formingstorage compartments between said mattress compartment and panelsection, and said panel section having a plurality of doors providingaccess to said storage compartments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

